Real-Time Decision Budget is the operational limit (usually measured in milliseconds to a few seconds) for collecting signals, running models or rules, and returning a recommendation during an active call. It defines how fast an assist system must decide so the output is usable in the moment.
It matters because guidance that arrives late can distract agents, increase handle time, or be ignored entirely. A clear budget forces trade-offs about which inputs to use, how complex the decision logic can be, and what to do when data is missing or systems are slow.
Setting and monitoring the budget helps teams align engineering and operations on acceptable latency, design fallbacks (for example, simpler rules when models time out), and protect customer experience by keeping real-time prompts timely and stable.
